


Captured Flags, Captured Hearts

by shamelesslyromantic



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Laser Tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:26:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22238584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shamelesslyromantic/pseuds/shamelesslyromantic
Summary: The Miracuclass plays laser tag for their bonding activity, and Adrien suddenly sees Mari in a whole new light.Written for ML Secret Santa 2019Loosely set a few years after season 3, has almost nothing to do with the canon events of any episode in particular beyond characters existing.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 17
Kudos: 294





	Captured Flags, Captured Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays, Opalsae!
> 
> Side note: I based all the laser tag stuff on my personal experience in the US, so if it’s not something played at all in France, I apologize. I’m imagining the kids a couple years older than current canon, maybe sixteen or so.

Marinette tugged on the black straps hanging from her sides, making sure her vest was as snug and streamlined as it could be. Around her, others adjusted their own gear, some of them pointing their scanners at each other and making ridiculous pew pew sounds to accompany the glorious indignity of the laser tag outfits. The pre-arena prep room was warm and a little stuffy, a sharp contrast to the winter storm outside, and Marinette silently thanked Alix’s parents for their brilliant idea and generous sponsorship of today’s class bonding field trip. Even better than the chance to spend time with her friends, though, was the prospect of hanging out without Lila there to ruin her fun, as she was supposedly out of the country on a charity trip and had to miss out. Add in a Chloé who had mellowed quite a bit since befriending Marinette and coming out as bi, and Marinette found herself looking forward to the outing with an excitement she hadn’t felt for ages. 

Straightening, Marinette surveyed the rest of her class all laughing and trash talking each other and smirked. This was going to be _good._

A woman dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans walked in. “Alright everyone, if you’re all ready, let’s get the game set up. There’s a few modes of play available: free-for-all, team elimination, capture the flag, and medic. Does our host have a preference?”

Alix exchanged a glance with Kim and declared, “CAPTURE THE FLAG!”

A brief tussle for leadership later, Alix and Kim, captains of Teams Miraculous and Akuma, respectively, were ready to pick teams. Kim went first, having won the coin toss. 

“Marinette!”

Alix shot him a dirty look and called out, “Max!”

“Adrien!”

“Nino!”

“Sabrina!”

Ivan, Myléne, and Juleka also went to Kim, while Alix took Nathaniel, Alya, Chloé, and Rose, and the teams started moving to opposite corners of the room to strategize. 

“Ready to go down, O gracefully-challenged one?” came a voice from behind her. 

Marinette turned to face her best friend. “Oh you poor sweet soul, you have no idea what you’re getting into, do you? I can’t wait to see your face when you lose.”

“Sorry sweetie, you know I love you, but there’s no way I’m going to lose, least of all to you. I’ve been practicing parkour for the Ladyblog and you can barely walk in a straight line without tripping over one of your nonexistent shoelaces. Not to mention, you’re on the same team as your kryptonite.” Alya shook her head pityingly. “I almost feel sorry for you.”

Marinette just smiled mysteriously, not saying anything in response . 

Just then, Kim yelled, “Come on, Marinette! We’re all waiting for you!”

With a cheerful “Good luck!” and finger waggle over her shoulder at Alya, Marinette danced over to her group. 

As Marinette and her team circled up, Adrien leaned in and asked, “People really take this seriously, don’t they?” 

She laughed and answered a bit distractedly, her mind already occupied with planning strategy, “You have no idea. Laser tag is practically a sacred ritual for us commoners. It’s one of the few legal ways for us to ruthlessly attempt to slaughter one another without actually causing any pain.”

Adrien paused and blinked a couple times, seeming taken aback by her lack of a stutter. “That sounds really interesting! I can’t wait to try…” he trailed off, belatedly noticing that the rest of his group seemed to be watching Marinette expectantly. 

Kim spoke first. “Okay, we don’t have a lot of time. What’s the plan, Marinette?”

Adrien was bewildered yet again. “Why Marinette? Aren’t you team captain?” 

“Sometimes I forget that this is your first year in our class. There’s a reason we are all so excited for her to be class president. Just watch. Marinette?”

“Okay, Alix’s team has strong players but they aren’t really built for a long, drawn out game. She’s probably going to concentrate on offense, so she can take us out as quick as possible, and will leave her base less protected as a result. We should focus on stealth. I’m thinking one or two teams of two on offense, two guarding our flag at the source and one hidden sniper as backup for the cover. Mylene and Ivan are our strongest defenders, so they’ll be on the ground at the base. Keep an eye on the leftmost hallway, since Max tends to favor his right. Kim, I’m guessing you want to be on offense?”

“Uh, yeah!”

“Great, then you and Sabrina can be one offensive team. Adrien and I will be the other. I’ll watch out for him and keep him away from fire as much as I can, since he hasn’t played before. You guys go down the middle, and we’ll go right. You’re both agile and fast, so try to engage and eliminate as many of them as you can while we sneak past without drawing too much attention. Juleka, you’ll be our sniper. Find a good vantage point and take out as many of them as you can. Everyone good with their role?”

The rest of the circle all nodded eagerly, but Adrien could only stare, mouth hanging slightly open. Gone was his clumsy, stuttering classmate; in her place stood a seasoned warrior who had just come up with a plan on par with one of Ladybug’s lucky charm fixes. No longer sweet or shy, her face now bore an expression that he couldn’t label as anything other than joyous bloodlust, like a Valkyrie going to battle. Suddenly, he understood why Alix had been upset that Kim picked Marinette first. Excitement — and a little fear — filled him at the thought of fighting by her side. 

This was going to be _fun_. 

“Hands in, everyone,” said Kim. “Akuma on three. Ready? One, two, three”

“Akuma!”

A few seconds later, they heard a cry of “Miraculous!” from the other corner, signaling that Alix’s group was also ready. 

Both teams entered the maze and rushed to their bases, and the game was afoot. 

Marinette and Adrien stayed alert as they made their way down the side path, peeking around every corner and pausing every so often to listen for the enemy. It didn’t take long before the sounds of shouts and laser blasts from a different section reached them over the edm playing from nearby speakers. They stopped in a relatively protected spot, trying to identify the voices. Marinette sighed in relief when she picked out Kim’s voice, because it meant that the fighting wasn’t yet at their base and they still had time. 

She glanced at Adrien, about to motion for them to continue on, when she was struck by a flash of déja vu. Something about his stance and the way he cocked his head just so as he listened seemed incredibly familiar to her, so much so that she knew the exact moment his focus shifted from the battle to her, even before his gaze slid over to meet hers. The battle sounds faded away as both teens paused, lost in the moment. Adrien shook himself back to reality first, perking up as he heard a faint shuffling sound very close to where they were currently crouched. Taking the lead, he crept over to the edge of the wall and peeked out at the passageway. He saw a flash of pink hair disappearing around the other side and heard voices whispering. Two? Three? He couldn’t tell for sure. 

Turning back to Marinette, he mouthed Alix at her and held up first two, then three fingers with a questioning look. She nodded and held up three fingers, mouthing Alya back to him. As they signaled back and forth, figuring out a plan, Adrien was surprised by how well they communicated nonverbally. It felt... familiar somehow. He shrugged it off, chalking their easy communication up to her experience playing strategy games. Nodding at each other, they readied themselves for the assault. 

When the quiet footsteps drew near, the duo jumped out and began firing. Their opponents — who turned out to be Alix, Alya, and Nino — were quick to respond, but not quick enough. Adrien jumped out of the way of the first volley, successfully getting out Alya in the process. At the same time, Marinette dove into a smooth forward roll, sprang up, and fired off two quick shots that eliminated Alix and Nino from behind before even they had time to turn around. Grinning wickedly, she brought her scanner to her mouth and blew on it as if she were blowing away smoke from the barrel of a freshly-fired gun in an old western. She then grabbed Adrien’s hand and the two of them dashed off toward the enemy base. 

Several brief but badass takedowns later — during which both teens were again surprised by their effortless teamwork — they had the enemy flag and were sprinting for their home base. They reached just in time to see Alix, recharged and back in the game, literally climb Ivan and grab the flag from behind him. Marinette quickly stuck the flag she held in its waiting alcove and Adrien re-eliminated Alix for good measure as the rest of their team cheered. 

“Team Akuma wins!” 

With that announcement, the lights came on and the vests powered down, the scanners now changing to reveal each player’s final ranking. Marinette, to no one’s surprise, was first. The real surprise came when the number two spot, normally fought over by Alix and Kim, went to Adrien instead of either of them. 

Nino walked up and thumped him on the shoulder. “For someone who’s never played before, you sure kicked butt, dude! Great job!”

“Thanks Nino,” Adrien responded, grinning ear to ear. He then shyly reached out a fist to Marinette. “Great job, partner!”

“Bien joué!” she said, bumping his fist with hers. Another flash of familiarity rang in both of their minds, and they both froze for a moment, until Marinette was roused from her reverie by Alya slinging an arm over her shoulder. 

“Girl you’ve been holding out on me! We have got to come back here and be on the same team next time!”

The spell broken, Marinette stepped away from Adrien and let her arm fall as she turned away. Memories kept replaying in her minds eye, adding up to create a picture she wasn’t sure she was ready to face. 

“Haha sure, we’ll see about that after lunch,” she answered half-heartedly, refusing to look at Adrien despite the way he took a half step toward her and opened his mouth as if to speak. Pasting a careless grin on her face to belie the tension she was feeling, she took Alya’s hand and pulled her off to where lunch had been set up, hoping the presence of another person would deter ~~Chat~~ Adrien from confronting her before she was ready. 

Once lunch was over, though, she couldn’t avoid his kitten eyes any more. She marched up to his table where he hadn’t touched a bite of his food, grabbed his arm, and half dragged him out of the party room in a move far rougher than the one she’d used on Alya earlier. Once outside, she let go and stalked down the hallway trying door after door until she found a room that was both unlocked and empty. It turned out to be a coat closet, but that would be fine for the ~~meltdown~~ conversation they were about to have. Beckoning Adrien over and turning on the light, she stepped in after him and closed the door behind her. 

And then they were alone. 

In a closet. 

Just the two of them. 

Marinette and Adrien. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Oh boy. 

Several seconds ticked by in silence before Adrien cleared his throat, wincing at how loud it sounded. “So…” he trailed off, biting his lip and shuffling his feet. “I’m just gonna say it so it’s out in the open and we can deal with it then. Me-ow Tarzan, you Jane-bug?”

Suddenly all the breath whooshed out of Marinette’s lungs and she felt like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Leaning back against the door, she slid to the floor, put her head between her knees and groaned, as if in pain. 

Adrien dropped to his knees beside her in a panic. “Oh my gosh I’m so sorry I totally did not mean to freak you out I’m sorry I know you didn’t want to know and we weren’t supposed to find out and then it happened and I wanted to unsee it because I know you wanted to keep it a secret but I just couldn’t and-mmpfh!” His rambling was abruptly cut off when Marinette’s hand shot out and pinched his lips shut. 

He had nearly gone cross-eyed trying to see her fingers on his mouth when he noticed her shoulders shaking. He pulled her hand off and moved closer, unsure what to do. “Are- are you crying? Should I go get someone? Will you be okay?”

Finally, she lifted her head and he saw she had been shaking with laughter, not tears. “I _cannot_ believe you! I was standing there freaking out about how everything was going to change and you- you- you _incorrigible cat-boy_ !” she finally burst out. “You outed yourself with a freaking pun?!” She dropped her face into her hands, half crying of exasperated laughter. “It’s just so _like_ you and now that I know, I can see there’s no one else it could possibly have been and I’m just _kicking_ myself for how blind I’ve been.” 

Her chuckles died down and tenderness stole into her eyes and expression. She cupped his cheek with one hand. “I’m just really glad it’s you,” she finished softly. 

“I- you- ah- um- guh!” Adrien struggled to find his voice at first. “You can’t just _do_ that to me! First I was panicked ‘cause I thought you were mad and then you were sad and now you’re so cute it hurts my eyes to look at you and _I can’t handle it!_ I’m just a teenage boy! We’re supposed to have the emotional range of a teaspoon!”

Then he sobered, reaching out to cradle her face in his hands. “I’m really glad it’s you, too. Now I have a name that matches perfectly with the woman I love.”

“I love you too.”

“I know you’ve already said you love me as just a friend, but do you think there’s any chance you could grow to love me as more?”

Good grief, his kitten eyes were going to be her undoing. 

“Oh, you sweet, silly kitty. All those times I turned down Chat Noir weren’t just because superheroes shouldn’t date, they were also because I was in love with this wonderful golden boy in my class who took the time to make amends for something he didn’t even do because he wanted to be my friend. I don’t need to try. I’m already in love with you.” 

She paused for a moment, collecting herself, and then her soft smile turned devious. 

“Now, help me up so we can go out there and show our classmates what we’re _really_ capable of.”

“Milady, that’s the best idea you’ve had all day!”

**Author's Note:**

> Just to clear up any lingering confusion, this is how the teams were for the game, as well as the role each person played:
> 
> Kim:  
> Marinette  
> Adrien  
> Sabrina  
> Ivan  
> Mylene  
> Juleka
> 
> Juleka sniping at base, Ivan and Mylene defense  
> Marinette/Adrien and Sabrina/Kim offense  
>   
> Alix:  
> Max  
> Nino  
> Chloé  
> Alya  
> Nathaniel  
> Rose
> 
> Nathaniel and Max on defense  
> Alya/Nino/Alix and Rose/Chloé offense


End file.
